First drive: 2012 Scion iQ

Mini car ups the ante

By Matthew Buckingham, Postmedia News

Originally published: September 22, 2011

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Halifax • Driving through the streets of Halifax, you feel immersed in an old world charm from the buildings and architecture peppered with all the hip, urban Dalhousie students.

The small city with its schism of new and old set the scene for an ideal place to test the new Scion iQ. Toyota says the Scion division has essentially re-written the book on compact car design with the iQ providing today’s urbanites with an amazingly fuel-efficient, spacious, sleek and affordable model.

Now, Halifax is a small city with a small population, and I’m used to the hordes of traffic that have to be navigated in Toronto. So, after buckling up and checking my mirrors, I’m anticipating a quick exit from downtown Halifax. Of course, with my luck, I end up behind the world’s most timid taxi driver. He’s stopped with his taxi behind an enormous cargo van, so I get out and ask him what he’s waiting for. Apparently, he’s not taking the chance of scuffing the cab and it takes a solid 10 minutes of pleading before he relents and agrees to back up. Yet, he won’t do the smart thing and reverse into a huge parking spot. That’s too easy and potentially dangerous for him. Instead, he backs up a measly two metres. But the joke’s on him as the iQ’s 1.67-m width gave me more than enough room to pass him and his precious taxi. I remember hearing that things happen at a slower pace out east. If my experience with this cabbie is any indication, it sure does. Luckily for me, the Scion had more than enough mustard to pass all those Sunday drivers I encountered.

Featuring a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine, the iQ produces 94 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, allowing it to go from zero to 100 kilometres an hour in 11.8 seconds and giving me plenty of power to pass nearly anything Nova Scotia slowly put in my way. The iQ will face off against competition the likes of the Smart fortwo and the Fiat 500. But, with a starting price of $16,760, the iQ may face tough competition considering how much more expensive it is than the other two models.

To find out how the iQ fared when pitted against its competition in a performance challenge, we track tested all three vehicles on a slalom course just east of Halifax. The Smart for-two quickly dropped back in the pack with the Fiat 500 and the iQ outshining it in nearly every test.

The iQ’s 1,999-millimetre wheelbase allowed for nimble turning, while the independent front strut suspension with stabilizer bar and semi-independent rear torsion beam suspension prevented the car from rolling during turns. In the end, it was a close competition between the Fiat 500 and the iQ, but the iQ’s tighter turning, better handling and more stable ride pushed it past the Fiat for the victory.

At 3.05 m long, the iQ is made for urban life, and the four-metre turning radius makes it easy to U-y out of traffic to nab that last parking spot across the street. Combined with a cargo capacity of 16.7 cubic feet with the back seats down and 3.5 cubic feet with the seats up, the Scion proves to be a quick, sporty and agile subcompact with tons of space. It’s versatile and spacious enough for small families and perfect for out-and-about singles.

The engineers at Toyota went a long way in redefining the subcompact car with the Scion iQ. The fuel tank is the flattest in the business, says Toyota, with a height comparable to that of a can of pop. This feature and its placement under the driver’s seat, combined with some other clever reductions to the air conditioning system and the engine, have allowed the iQ to fit four passengers in a car roughly 25 centimetres longer then the fortwo. The glove box was completely re-thought and scrapped altogether. In lieu of a glove box, the passenger seat holds a sliding compartment to store odds and ends. This feature has been in Toyotas in the past — the Echo, for instance, had the same feature.

Surprisingly, the Scion is packed with many seemingly high-end features such as 11 air bags positioned throughout the vehicle. It also has a 5.8-inch LCD touchscreen and a 200-watt audio sound system with a wheel-mounted control.

The iQ features a continuously variable transmission, which contributes to better fuel economy. The iQ’s impressive numbers — 5.5 litres per 100 km in the city and 4.6 L/100 km on the highway (5.1 combined) — are identical to those of the Fiat 500 and slightly worse than those of the Smart fortwo.

The Scion also offers a new array of colours, with my personal favourite being Hot Lava. Other interesting new hues include Pacific Blue Metallic and Black Current Metallic. There are just enough traditional colours for those who aren’t going to step out of the box but want a hip smaller car.

The iQ handles very well. Costing just a bit more than the Fiat and a couple of thousand dollars more than the Smart, I think I would have a tough time choosing between the 500 and the iQ. If Scion really wanted to cement the iQ’s branding as a car for hip urbanites, it would need to augment its tech-savviness, perhaps including an iPhone dock and an SD card slot.